Faith, Hope, Love (Part 2)

image

Here are more of my favorite quotes about the three most important things in the world! 🙂

FAITH

“Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.”
~ Max Lucado, He Still Moves Stones

“Faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe.”
~ Mitch Albom, Have a Little Faith: The Story of a Last Request

“Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.”
~ Paul Tillich

“Faith is belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch. Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark.”
~ Elizabeth Gilbert

“There is nothing anti-intellectual in the leap of faith, for faith is not believing without proof but trusting without reservation.”
~ William Sloane Coffin Jr., Credo

HOPE

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”
~ Epicurus

“When hope is fleeting, stop for a moment and visualize, in a sky of silver, the crescent of a lavender moon. Imagine it — delicate, slim, precise, like a paper-thin slice from a cabochon jewel. t may not be very useful, but it is beautiful. nd sometimes it is enough.”
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

“You can’t eat hope,’ the woman said.
You can’t eat it, but it sustains you,’ the colonel replied.”
~ Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez, El coronel no tiene quien le escriba

“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”
~ Václav Havel

“In an age of hope men looked up at the night sky and saw “the heavens.” In an age of hopelessness they call it simply “space.”
~ Peter Kreeft

“To believe and yet to have no hope is to thirst beside a fountain.”
~ Ann-Marie MacDonald, Fall on Your Knees

LOVE

“Some people don’t understand the promises they’re making when they make them,” I said.

“Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway. That’s what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway.”
~ John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

“The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because generally they are the same people.”
~ G.K. Chesterton

“I was always hungry for love. Just once, I wanted to know what it was like to get my fill of it — to be fed so much love I couldn’t take any more. Just once. ”
~ Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

“There is no intensity of love or feeling that does not involve the risk of crippling hurt. It is a duty to take this risk, to love and feel without defense or reserve.”
~ William S. Burroughs

“Love me sweet
With all thou art
Feeling, thinking, seeing;
Love me in the Lightest part,
Love me in full Being.”
~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

—–

To view PART 1, visit https://psychosomaticaddictinsane.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/faith-hope-love/

—–

listening to: Steve Aoki feat Lovefoxxx – Heartbreaker

God’s Letters to His Princess

Who’s His princess?

ME!

Or YOU! 🙂

It’s for all of us ladies who are waiting for the right person. Some of us patiently wait. Some of us wait with hope so thin or with anger churning. Sadly, some do not even wait anymore for they have lost faith.

I was one of those princesses who was on the verge of screaming AYOKO NA!!! to God’s face. Kapal ko noh? It was because I didn’t understand. It was because my will was stronger than HIS. To all those who know me and my story, then you know the pain, disappointment, frustration and even depression that I went through. Most of them self imposed. Because like I said, my will was stronger than God’s. It’s only lately that I have come to realize how much He loves me and how it is imperative that I first learn to listen and obey. And that I should really be patient and discerning! Hindi dahil may boylet na nandyan is siya na ‘yon! Maaaaan… I learned this the hard way and up to now, there are still tests thrown my way. I feel that He is indeed checking if I have already changed and if I am ready for His gift aka answered prayer aka fulfilled promise.

Jan, a close friend of mine (one of God’s many perfectly timed gifts to me) shared these letters when I was undergoing another (and quite recent) ANO NA NAMAN BA ITO?! phase in my life.

Read on and I hope your heart will also be touched.

image

image

Nakaka-kilig, di’ba? I don’t know about you, basta ako kinilig ako ng bongga that God is preparing the best person for me.

It’s a drag to wait, I know. But if you know in your heart that what you are waiting for is the best, then it will make things lighter. Wait with joy. Use the time to focus on other aspects in your life. Love your family, your friends, your neighbor, your enemies (oo, pati sila!!! working on it!!!) and of course… LOVE GOD! Love our DaddyGod, our Heavenly Father. Para ka na rin hindi naghintay kasi masaya ka. Time flies when you’re having fun, right? Right!

(Maybe you’ve already noticed, I started with me and shifted on YOU! My plan, exactly! Hehe!)

In times that you feel sad, tell Him. Kahit sa mga panahon na galit ka, o nagdududa, talk to Him! Coz seriously, sino pa ba ang makikinig sa iyo without judgment and with absolute understanding? You’re His baby. Magsumbong ka sa Kanya and He will surely protect you with all His might.

I would like to end this entry with a line from author/preacher Max Lucado–

“A woman’s heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.”

My fellow princess, wait on Him. =)

—–

listening to: Layla Kaylif – Shakespeare In Love

Of Waiting and Pagtingin Sa Mga Hayop

Was listening to a VCF podcast yesterday about praying and Pastor Robert said something about waiting for the perfect partner that caught my attention and tickled my funnybone.

He said (something like)…

“If you’re waiting for your perfect partner to come along, just chill. Huwag magmadali. Remember, Adam was put to sleep and when he woke up, Eve was already there. NAPAGOD MUNA SIYA SA KAKATINGIN SA MGA HAYOP bago sa kanya ibinigay si Eba.”

Wala lang. Nakakatawa lang. :p

I believe that we serve a God of perfect timings. I believe that very much. Lalo na ngayon.

—–

listening to: Kristinia DeBarge – Future Love

Jeric <3 Mafi

Less than 2 weeks ago…

Me: O, baket ka tumawag?
Mafi: I-invite sana kita sa wedding namin next week.
Me: Punyemas, next week na?!!????

She’s not pregnant. In fact, they were engaged for around a year before they tied the knot last Friday. Their original plan was to have a beach wedding in Bataan last March but it was postponed because Mafi had to go to Greece. I thought they moved it to November, but I was wrong. Good thing I was wrong because I really think Jeric and Mafi are made for each other and it’s just right that they seal the deal. 🙂

image

May 25, in Tramway, Shaw Blvd. There were 20+ of us in attendance to bear witness to Jeric and Mafi’s Christian wedding. It was a simple, beautiful intimate gathering of family and closest friends. It was also the first wedding I ever attended that served food before the ceremony. I loved it. :p Plus, we also got to eat again after the Pastor declared them husband and wife.

Another thing I loved was I got to be the flowergirl!!! Chloe, the original flowergirl, was sleepy and didn’t want to go back inside to throw petals at the newlyweds. So what was a concerned secondary sponsor to do? I grabbed the flowerbasket and said, “Pwede po ako na lang? Matagal ko nang pangarap gawin ito uli eh!” Nobody seemed to mind. I said, “Wheeeee!!!” each time I threw petals at the couple. Ang saya ko lang talaga!

image

It was a happy day. Another day that reminded me that love will always and forever triumph. My wish for the newlyweds is for them to never forget what is said in Ephesians 5:

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior… Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy…

image

Congratulations and best wishes to the lovebirds! Jeric, welcome to the family! Take care of my baby cousin!

—–

listening to: Kelly Clarkson – A Moment Like This

Of soup and pearls

I woke up this morning wanting to call in sick but I couldn’t because there were a lot of things I had to do in the office. I remembered him when a long time ago, I told him I was sick and couldn’t go to work and he offered to bring me soup and take care of me until I feel better. I told him, “Adik ka ba?” I didn’t want him to visit me because I didn’t want my parents to meet him. He met my parents after a couple of months in a very very embarrassing situation. No, my parents didn’t walk in on us while you-know-what. Anyway, we ended up going out and watching a movie albeit me being sick. I didn’t want to kiss him, but he risked getting the virus. True enough, he had cough and colds a few days after. I sent him an sms saying “Get well”. He replied, “Soup?” and I said, “You have helpers. Go ask one of them to make you some.” No wonder he didn’t become my boyfriend. But hey, I wanted to be there but I wasn’t prepared to meet his mom and dad.

I was stuck with that memory this morning and I could help but remember the story of “The Fake Pearl” that my friend Ralph shared with me last night. I almost bawled while walking out of Glorietta when I told him I already knew how the story’s gonna end, “Waaaah!!! I have a fake pearl! Pucha. I have a lot of fake pearls!!!” How can God give me the true pearl when I can’t let go of the fake? How can God show me Mr.Right if my heart and mind cannot move on? What if he’s already in my life but I’m too stupid to notice him because all I see is the one I want to be with but should not be with?

It’s scary. I did not expect that my feelings are still this strong for this guy. Just mid last year I claimed that I was in love with another man boy. This other boy even asked me before why after this guy who wanted to bring me soup, I was not able to love again. I can’t remember what I answered but I knew I answered what I believed was true that time. And what I believed true was I didn’t have feelings for him anymore and that I was just waiting for the right one to come along. Couldn’t be more wrong. Few months after I was asked that question, I was with the soup-guy (haha lame codename I know, so tempted to put his initials but I won’t) and some of my friends and I thought it was just one of those regular drinking sessions where I was chatty because of the alcohol buzz. My friends told me right after that night that they’ve never seen me that happy. Not even with the guy I claimed I was in love with. That scared me because I didn’t want to fall all over again. But I guess I set myself up for trouble. And I fell. Harder than before. I believe the word they used to describe me when I was with soup-guy was effervescent. Lively. Sparkling.

Wow. :,(

I put on my work clothes and put on makeup. I went out of the house and walked to the elevator. I walked back to the house and went in my room and removed all the pictures of us. Just recently, I had our favorite pictures printed because resisting him wasn’t working so I thought, maybe filling my world with his memories might make me sick of him. I kept the pictures underneath a stack of old books that I don’t plan reading. The dust made me sneeze.

I deleted his name from my phonebook.

Hopefully, This is the last time I’m going to write about him.

My body is sick. My heart is hopeful. Real pearl, come to me.

—–

listening to: nothing

Bacon

We keep on saying that men are pigs but we also keep on saying that we love bacon.

~ my Fb status message this morning

Not saying this because the man that keeps on pushing me to folly and madness is a bit on the heavy side. My Facebook, Twitter and YM pages have been flooded by posts about how much I miss him, hate him, and blah blah blah. I know I’ve been losing followers and friends because of this but I don’t care. I like talking about him even if a lot of my posts are waaaay exaggerated. He’s really not a bad person. He’s just bad for me.

I hate that I have several reasons to completely ignore him but I just couldn’t, maybe because of the other several reasons activating some fiber of hope that things will someday be alright between us.

I hate that he has this effect on me. Even the littlest thing he does can drive me to lose sleep.

The mere memory of his smile makes me effervescent. His hot and cold spells destroy my already endangered sanity. I’m too old to know better. I’m too young to care.

This is a timely rant. It’s been four years. I’m not in love. No, no. In fact I don’t fucking know what I feel.

—–

image source: http://shirtoid.com/14529/bacon-man/

—–

listening to: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps

Faith, Hope, Love

Here are some of my favorite quotes about the three most important things in the world. 🙂

FAITH

“Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.”
~ Kahlil Gibran

“I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish He didn’t trust me so much.”
~ Mother Theresa

“Faith is putting all your eggs in God’s basket, then counting your blessings before they hatch.”
~ Ramona Carroll

“God has put something noble and good into every heart His hand created.”
~ Mark Twain

“The principle part of faith is patience”
~ George MacDonald

HOPE

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”
~ Anne Lammott

“Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torment of man”
~ Friedrich Nietzsche

“When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God.”
~ Charles Allen

“Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.”
~ Augustine of Hippo

“Hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper.”
~ Francis Bacon

LOVE

“There are four questions of value in life… What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love.”
~ Johnny Depp (Don Juan de Marco, 1995)

“Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”
~ Robert Heinlein

“They spoil every romance by trying to make it last forever.”
~ Oscar Wilde

“Love is much like a wild rose, beautiful and calm, but willing to draw blood in its defense.”
~ Mark Overby

“Love comes when manipulation stops; when you think more about the other person than about his or her reactions to you. When you dare to reveal yourself fully. When you dare to be vulnerable.”
~ Joyce Brothers

—–

image source: http://www.royalhope.com/page/10/

—-

listening to: Bamboo – Masaya

The Giving (Christmas) Tree

Christmas trees are in season again. Why? Seriously, self explanatory na dapat, di’ba? Hehe.

Simple Things I Love About Home

After almost 2 months of not seeing my parents, I got to file for VL and I went home to Bataan 2 weekends ago. I realized that things are very different now compared to what we had when we still lived in BF. There are a few things, however, that remain constant and I am very grateful to these things…

Mama never fails to forget the food I would like to eat whenever I’d go home.

She cooked pork sinigang with gabi and halabos na hipon for me. Daddy would always joke that he gets to eat a lot whenever I am there. Nagpapakitang gilas. :p We also opted to “eat out” literally. As in sa may gilid ng dirty kitchen namin. Katabi ng mga puno like buko, mangga, saging, suha, etc. Al fresco kung al fresco. Presko talaga ang hangin sa probinsya.

They also had special suman sa lihiya made for me. This is the only suman I enjoy eating. Childhood favorite ko ito.

I always go to Mafi’s house when I’m in Morong. My cousin’s house is nearer the beach and that’s where my closest cousins and I prefer to drink or pig out.

I wasn’t in the mood to drink because our poison that night was Zinfandel and Blackberry Merlot. For some reason, I wanted Red Horse or The Bar, but I was too lazy to get beer from the sari-sari store, but I was not too lazy to eat Tita Linda’s luto.

Chicken adobo, adobong pusit, hotdogs, garlic mushrooms and Coke! Walang diet-diet ‘pag nasa probinsya!

My niece/goddaughter Reese always tags along. I have been teaching her how to eat barbecue sa kalye. So far, so good. She’s becoming matakaw like her Tita Ninang Iya Ganda. (Sampalin ko ang kokontra sa tawag niya sa akin.)

I make it a point to not go back to Manila without eating Pho (25php) and Ban Mhi (30php). Hello? Magkano sa Wabi-Sabi ‘yan, diba?

Another must when I’m home is attending mass. Look how sweet my mama and daddy are. HHSSWW!!! Holding hands, may pa-swing-swing pa while walking!!!

Ma and Dad made sure that I wouldn’t go back to Manila without eating my other favorites. For brekky, we had tuyo, sinangag with lots of garlic, fried egg and coffee with lots of Coffee Mate and muscovado sugar. Just the way I likey. Mama also cooked tapa but I didn’t have any.

For lunch, more hipon, kilawing labong (bamboo shoots cooked in vinegar) and fried tanigue.

I miss the life we had in BF, but I’m glad we brought the excellent food and massive love in Bataan.

I can’t wait to go home again! Mama said she’ll make lumpiang hubad, adobong spareribs and garlic alimasag for me!

—–

listening to: Tavares – Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel

%d bloggers like this: